See Also

How much do you spend on dining out? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American family forked over $2,505 on meals away from home in 2010. While that number is down from 2008, when it was $2,698, that’s still a lot of bread.

If you cut your dining costs by just 30 percent, you’d be $751.50 richer within a year. So how do you accomplish that? The obvious solution is: Just don’t go out to eat.

But where’s the fun in that? For me, that’s impossible—partly because I live in New Orleans, where we have more than 1,200 restaurants, according to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. Dining out is a way of life for me, but so is saving money and increasing my wealth. Here’s how I do both…